Senators Take Issue with President Truman on His Opposition to a Jewish State

President Truman today announced at his press conference that the names of the members of the Anglo-American inquiry commission on Palestine would probably be made public on Monday.

The text of a letter addressed to the President in connection with his reported opposition to the establishment of Palestine as a Jewish Commonwealth was made public here today by Senators Robert F. Wagner and Robert A. Taft, co-sponsors of the Palestine resolution now pending in the Senate, from which Truman has withdrawn his support.

In the letter, the two Senators charged that “misrepresentations and false issues raised with respect to the projected Jewish commonwealth,” are intended to “confuse the public.” They expressed the belief that the passage of their resolution, which calls for the eventual establishment by Jews of a free and democratic commonwealth in Palestine, is more urgently required now than ever before in view of the projected inquiry by an Anglo-American committee.

“It is clear,” their letter said, “that our resolution does no more than give renewed expression to the purposes of the British and American statesmen who framed the politics of the Allied nations.” It cited utterances by Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts, Woodrow-Wilson and Lloyd George to prove that at no time was a racial state contemplated in Palestine. At the same time, it pointed out that their resolution is no more than a restatement of the position taken by both major political parties.

The letter reminded Truman that on countless occasions the Zionist Organization of America has made it “crystal clear” that it contemplates a democratic state with complete equality of rights for all citizens irrespective of race or faith.